Sebastian Vael
} |name = Sebastian Vael |image = Seb01.png |px = 270px |gender = Male |title = Prince of Starkhaven (disputed) Chantry Lay Brother (formerly) Chantry Brother (initiate) (formerly) |race = Human |class = Rogue |affiliation = Chantry Hawke (conditional) |specialization = Royal Archer |family = Goran Vael (cousin) Corbinian Vael (cousin) Unnamed older brother Unnamed older brother Hawke (wife) (conditional) |voice = Alec Newman Gaider, David. "The Exiled Prince, Sebastian Vael". BioWare Social Network. Retrieved 2011-01-09. |location = Kirkwall Chantry, Hightown |appearances = Dragon Age II - The Exiled Prince Heroes of Dragon Age Dragon Age: Inquisition (mentioned) Dragon Age: Knight Errant |quests = Duty Repentance The Starkhaven Longbow Questioning Beliefs (Sebastian Act 2) Faith Questioning Beliefs (Sebastian Act 3) A Secret Formula An Ally from Starkhaven (operation) Aiding Kirkwall (operation) Annexing Kirkwall (operation) }} Sebastian Vael is a Chantry Brother and contender for the title of Prince of Starkhaven. He is a potential companion in Dragon Age II available through the The Exiled Prince DLC, and a possible romance option for a female Hawke. He is a highly skilled archer from the Vael family. Background The Vaels believed that their youngest son of three, Sebastian, was a disgrace to the family name, and would be a weight around his brothers' necks. He spent his considerable allowance on drink, entertainment, and the wooing of the ladies of Starkhaven. Fearing that Sebastian might father a bastard that could grow to challenge the Vael throne, his parents forced him into the Chantry, exiling him from their principality.Hepler, Jennifer.http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/addon/exiled_prince/ Bioware, Dragon Age 2 Sebastian Vael; Short Story. Retrieved: 03-02-2011 While he was not without faith, Sebastian did not wish to give up his life in service to Andraste so early in his existence, and with the aid of Grand Cleric Elthina, escaped. Elthina helped him to regain his faith however, and after reflection, Sebastian returned to the Chantry, this time willingly, and through the front door. Embracing his new role, Sebastian took vows of poverty and chastity to become a sworn brother of the Chantry... until word of his family's deaths forced him to take up worldly concerns once again. Now, Sebastian is forced to re-enter the viper's nest of princely politics when his family is brutally murdered, leaving him as the sole surviving heir."Addons". BioWare. Retrieved 2011-01-09. Involvement Dragon Age II Dragon Age: Inquisition The Inquisitor can ask Varric Tethras about his fate. Varric will state that he went back to Starkhaven. In the War table quest An Ally from Starkhaven, it is revealed that Sebastian reclaimed his title as Prince of Starkhaven and is extending a hand of friendship to the Inquisition. }} Later upon asking Hawke why she is alone, she will state that Sebastian is the Chantry advisor in Starkhaven. The throne is still in contention there. Without him, it would be open war among the noble families. He'd have dropped everything to come with her, but he'd have hated himself for doing it. Sebastian reclaims his title as Prince and later leads an invasion of Kirkwall. In the mission Annexing Kirkwall, Sebastian requests support from the Inquisition in helping him suppress the city's resistance forces led by Guard-Captain Aveline Vallen and hunt down Anders' associates. The Inquisitor can choose to send Leliana's agents to bolster Sebastian's forces and strong-arm Aveline to back down or send Cullen's military to bolster Aveline's resistance forces and repel Sebastian's occupation forces back to Starkhaven. }} Sebastian Vael reclaims his title as Prince of Starkhaven and in 9:41 decides to aid in the reconstruction of Kirkwall, which continues to suffer from Anders' actions. In the mission Aiding Kirkwall, Sebastian requests that the Inquisition send in soldiers and workers. The Inquisitor can choose to heed Leliana's advice and ignore the request in order focus resources on defeating Corypheus, have Josephine appeal to noble allies to help Kirkwall, or order Cullen to send in troops to expunge red lyrium from the Gallows. }} }} Dragon Age: Knight Errant ]] Shortly after attending Varric Tethras' appointment as Viscount of Kirkwall, Ser Aaron Hawthorne and his squire Vaea receive an invitation to Sebastian's birthday party in Starkhaven. Varric reveals that he's the one who secured the invitations to help Vaea in her mission to free the two Inquisition agents imprisoned in Sebastian's keep. Though Sebastian has refused to stoop to torture, despite the insistence of his Seneschal, the agents are being questioned daily as to their motive, which they have so far kept secret. When Vaea successfully free them from their prison, Tessa Forsythia and Marius reveal that their mission was to steal a journal of study on red lyrium kept by Sebastian. Though Sebastian is one of their allies, and the Inquisition trusts him not to misuse this information, they are worried about the journal falling into the wrong hands. During his birthday party, Sebastian is gifted a blue crystall skull by Professor Cedric Marquette of the University of Orlais. He is also the one who prevents a fight between the professor and Ser Aaron Hawthorne from breaking out. Despite his intervention, more conflicts arise. As Seneschal Granger leaves the party to investigate a disturbance, Sebastian asks Varric for help. Sebastian later meets up with Ser Aaron, Vaea and Granger, while they are discussing the theft of the red lyrium's journal. Sebastian is quite taken by Vaea's heroism and exploits, and believes her story over Granger's. He regrets that the journal was stolen; Ser Aaron vows to follow whoever stole the journal. Sebastian gives them his eternal gratitude and says that they are welcome to return at any time. }} Romance Even though Sebastian can be romanced, he will never actually sleep with Hawke due to his vow of chastity. Friendship and rivalry Friendship with Sebastian can generally be earned by encouraging him to stay with the Chantry, by siding with the Chantry and the templars and by being helpful to those in need. Rivalry with Sebastian can generally be earned by pushing him to retake Starkhaven, by siding against the Chantry and by making aggressive, disagreeable or otherwise "dishonorable" choices. Quests Dragon Age II Act 1 * Act 2 * * * (gift) Act 3 * * Mark of the Assassin * Dragon Age: Inquisition * * Gifts *The Starkhaven Longbow Initial statistics Talent trees Equipment Sebastian specific gear Armor Sebastian's armor upgrades can be found at the following locations: *Act 2 – – available at Olaf's Armory in Hightown. +(0.5 * ATK(LVL)) attack. *Act 2 – – available at Armor Shop in the Gallows Courtyard. Extra rune slot. *Act 2 – – found in the Harimann Estate during the Repentance quest. +2% critical chance. *Act 3 – – found on the Templar Lieutenant in Hightown during the Best Served Cold quest. Extra rune slot. Sebastian's armor may fail to show up on his equipment screen. His upgrades will also not show, and when the upgrades are found/purchased there will be no "level up" animation/sound indicating that the upgrade was equipped. It's as if Sebastian is simply not wearing armor. It's unknown what causes this, or if the equipped upgrades still give bonuses.}} Other * – starting weapon * – see Gifts * – requires Rogue Item Pack * – requires Rogue Item Pack II * – requires Mark of the Assassin Quotes *''(To Grand Cleric Elthina)'' "It is my right, my duty, to show these assassins there's nowhere in the Free Marches to hide." *"Varric, would but the Maker approve, you and I could be so much more than the best of friends." *''(Said if he is in the party when accepting Justice from Anders)'' "Huzzah! He's seen the light!" *"This is why the Chantry instituted the Circle in the first place. Mages need to be protected from themselves." *"Elthina is risking her life by not deserting her flock. Could I do the same?" *"Andraste said, 'The Maker is king in the heavens, but it is the kings of Thedas who must recreate his worldly glory.'" *''(To Anders questioning the origin of the darkspawn during Legacy)'' "The Chantry would not make such things up! The story is true, or as true as we can ever known." Trivia *Sebastian was written by Jennifer Hepler.Gaider, David. "The Exiled Prince, Sebastian Vael". BioWare Social Network. Retrieved 2011-01-09. *Sebastian "Seb" Hanlon, a part of the BioWare team, was at a time assigned to do most of the bug fixing and such for the character. The main reason for this was because of their similar name and it did not please him. The shared name also caused some confusion for Hanlon as every time someone mentioned the character, Hanlon thought they were directing their comments toward him.Hanlon, Sebastian. "The Exiled Prince, Sebastian Vael". BioWare Social Network. Retrieved 2011-01-09. *If one is to calculate Sebastian's age from what info he reveals about himself, Sebastian says he was thirteen when his grandfather made a promise to give him the Starkhaven Longbow, and he was given to the Chantry some time after this. In Act 3, he states that he hasn't been to Starkhaven in fifteen years. That makes Sebastian's age at least twenty-eight by Act 3. *David Gaider said that if he could write another Dragon Age comic, it would be dedicated to Bethany. He mentioned that he wanted her to adventure with Sebastian Vael in Starkhaven, and maybe Nathaniel Howe. *If interacted with after his final conversation in the Gallows during The Last Straw, Sebastian will say “though I walk through the mists on the edge of the void, I shall not fear, for you are with me.” This is in imitation of the Biblical verse Psalm 23:4 - "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me" (KJV) - which is sometimes spoken as a profession of faith during trials. Bugs *A bug can occur where Sebastian's loyalty bonus will apply as a negative value to Hawke even though he is not in the party. The normal bonus is 5% damage resistance, therefore during the bug it applies as -5% damage resistance. This bug stacks upon each reload of the game with Sebastian in the party adding -5% each time. *Infinite Friendship of +10 can be earned by talking to Elthina in the Chantry. This must be done before completing Following the Qun. Talking to her about "helping the community" will yield that. Infinite Rivalry can also be obtained the same way, but by choosing the "You're Useless" dialogue option when talking to the Grand Cleric in Act 2. (Does not appear to work on PC or PS3 as of at least patch 1.04) *A bug can occur in Act 2 and Act 3 when after finishing Repentance or Faith quest Questioning Beliefs won't trigger even if character has required amount of Friendship or Rivalry points. This cannot be prevented and leaves player unable to complete romance with Sebastian. Gallery Screenshot-59-sebastian dragon-p.jpg Screenshot-63-sebastian spider-p.jpg Sebastian-act-3.jpg|Sebastian refuses to help distract Elthina Sebastian.png|First encounter with Sebastian in the Chantry Courtyard Questioning Beliefs Act 3 Sebastian.png|Sebastian talking to Aveline Sebastian Vael (HoDA).png|Sebastian in Heroes of Dragon Age HoDAPrinceSebastian.jpg|Crowned Prince Sebastian Vael promotion in Heroes of Dragon Age Knight Errant 5.jpg|Sebastian on the cover of Dragon Age: Knight Errant's fifth issue Codex entries * * * References de:Sebastian Vael es:Sebastian Vael pl:Sebastian Vael pt-br:Sebastian Vael Category:Characters Category:Dragon Age II characters Category:The Exiled Prince Category:Heroes of Dragon Age characters Category:Humans Category:Rogues Category:Free Marchers Category:Chantry members Category:Royalty Category:Free Marcher nobility Category:Shadows Category:Love interests Category:Dragon Age: Knight Errant characters